IN THE MAPLE RIDGE COUNCILLOR’S RACE: Ryan Svendsen

Ryan Svendsen

RUNNING WITH MAPLE RIDGE FIRST

Firefighter, age 40

Town centre resident who’s lived in Maple Ridge 29 years

I have always had a passion for this community, and I call the town centre area home with my wife, Amanda, and our two young daughters.

I’m passionate about ensuring the citizens of Maple Ridge feel safe, local businesses are supported, and keeping young families and seniors in Maple Ridge by investing in the amenities and infrastructure we need – and ensuring various housing options are available.

While on council, I’ve enjoyed getting to know my community on a whole other level. I served as the parks and recreation committee chair, on the Fraser Valley Regional Library board, the public art steering committee, and the heritage commission. I also represented the City of Maple Ridge on the Metro Vancouver water committee.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/mapleridgefirst

Twitter: @mapleridgefirst

Tiktok: mapleridgefirst

Instagram: @mapleridgefirst

Website: www.mapleridgefirst.com

Phone: 778-846-6176

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Have you held office in past? If so, please specify: Yes, I served on the Maple Ridge City Council from 2018 to 2022.

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CLICK TO CHECK OUT OUR FULL ELECTION GUIDE ONLINE

Questions:

(These answers are presented as the candidates submitted them)

1. Does the City have a handle on the problems created by homelessness?

Yes.

2. Do you believe residents of the City feel safe?

Don’t know.

3. Do you support the City borrowing funds to build a new aquatic centre?

Yes. The City of Maple Ridge is in the final stages of a parks and recreation master plan, which will be endorsed by council shortly.

The updated master plan is taking the time to clarify the community’s most acute recreation infrastructure needs.

Citizens of all ages are asking for a new aquatics centre to support an active lifestyle. This engagement work is also taking the time to get commitments from the public that they support how these amenities will be paid for.

This plan will give the next council and staff the direction it needs to forge ahead on these important investments.

Council has done important work this term to increase the employment land tax base, to ensure that we have a strong, stable, and diverse tax base to pay for these important amenities.

4. Are you in favour of development along the Alouette River?

Don’t know.

5. Can City hall do more to attract new businesses to open in Maple Ridge?

Yes.

6. Should the City borrow funds to build a new arena facility?

Yes.

7. Should Maple Ridge take more direct action to combat the local opioid crisis?

Don’t know.

8. Is the City taking adequate measures to lower carbon emissions?

Yes.

9. Are tax levels too high in the City?

Yes.

10. Should the City commit to making a decision on proposed new developments within 12 months or less?

Yes.

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CLICK ON OUR ELECTIONS 2022 TAB TO FIND A WIDE VARIETY OF RELEVANT STORIES

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EDITOR’S NOTE:

How the questions were presented to each candidate

Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows news readers have told us how much they value this important, straight-forward reference guide that helps orient them with the range of choices on the ballots – both at the council and school board levels.

Towards that end, we have attempted to make this package available (along with the following instructions) to each of the candidates in a timely fashion ahead of the Oct. 15 election.

Please read carefully before you start to fill this out.

To help voters in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows make their choices on election day, The News is asking local candidates 10 issue-based questions.

You must provide a ‘yes,’ a ‘no,’ or a ‘don’t know’ (Y, N, D) response to EACH of these questions.

Each question MUST be answered with yes (Y), no (N), or Don’t Know (D). This will be published in a grid in the Oct. 6 edition. Any questions not answered will be LEFT BLANK.

Candidates may also expand on ANY OR ALL of these questions (to a maximum of 200 words each). Please note any responses longer than that will be cut off at the 201-word mark.

Due to space limitations, we can only guarantee to run one of these answers in The News print edition ahead of the election. You must CLEARLY indicate which expanded answer you want to see published in print. If you do not specify, we will choose. Any and all expanded answers provided will be published online at www.mapleridgenews.com.

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